Posted by
stringtheory on Wednesday, August 16, 2006 11:31:49 AM
Observation:
According to US Government 2004 statistics, Medicare will go broke by the
year 2019 and Social Security will be insolvent by 2042. All of us recognize that there are limits to
the amount of additional taxes that can be imposed upon the current work
force. More creative solutions must be
found.
Proposition:
Unbundle
the Public Schools. Our public school systems and our homes
should no longer be bundled together.
Untie the financing of public school systems from the taxation of real
property. Strengthen the public schools
by allowing them to tap into statewide funding.
Provide teachers the opportunity to make more money based upon results. Free each child to attend any public school
she wants to attend, i.e., the school that is best suited to improve her chances
for success. End the current system that
requires a child to attend the public school funded by the property taxes on
her parent's home.
Perspective:
According to the web site: www.schoolmatters.com, the Mount Vernon, New York
public school system (2004 figures) has 10,347 students and spends $13,287 per
student. Only 21% of the students in the
eighth grade scored proficient or above in statewide testing of reading,
although 47% of eighth graders were proficient statewide and 60% were
proficient countywide. The results for
eighth grade math proficiency were similarly disappointing: 32% Mt. Vernon;
58% statewide and 70% countywide.
Similarly, the Yonkers, New York public school system (2004 figures)
has 26,201 students and spends $15,148 per student. Only 28% of the students in the eighth grade
scored proficient or above in statewide testing of reading, although 47% of
eighth graders were proficient statewide and 60% of eighth graders were
proficient countywide. The results for
eighth grade math proficiency were equally grim: 39% Yonkers; 58% statewide and 70% countywide.
I can vaguely recall a time past when each home had one telephone service provider, one
gas/electric service provider, one
cable service provider and one public
school provider. We now have several
choices for phone service, several choices for television service and several
choices for gas and electric service. But each family continues to be limited to
only one public school district. There is absolutely no justification for the
current confinement. It is an entirely
artificial, and completely unnecessary, limit on our young talent. It is a form of educational confinement. It must end immediately.
Using the statistics above, our current
system is failing 68% of Mount Vernon's
students and 61% of Yonkers'
students. The way I see it, every day we
are losing too many of our poor youth to the streets, to drugs and violence,
and then to our overpopulated prisons.
And soon, we may start losing these same kids to jihad.
There is no time to waste. Let's have at it.